Review: Hold me Like a Breath

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Goodreads Summary:

Penelope Landlow has grown up with the knowledge that almost anything can be bought or sold—including body parts. She’s the daughter of one of the three crime families that control the black market for organ transplants.

Penelope’s surrounded by all the suffocating privilege and protection her family can provide, but they can’t protect her from the autoimmune disorder that causes her to bruise so easily.

And in her family’s line of work no one can be safe forever.

All Penelope has ever wanted is freedom and independence. But when she’s caught in the crossfire as rival families scramble for prominence, she learns that her wishes come with casualties, that betrayal hurts worse than bruises, that love is a risk worth taking . . . and maybe she’s not as fragile as everyone thinks.

With the catchy title, beautiful cover, and interesting synopsis I thought this would be a gem.

I was wrong.

It wasn’t a bad book, but it wasn’t what I was expecting and I was left feeling let down. There was so much potential for this being a gritty and dark story, along the lines of the Unwound series. Instead I got this naïve, childish MC, who admittedly knows she is being irresponsible and stupid throughout most of the book, but is still not redeemed through her honesty.

I flat out hated her little insta-love romance, it was so ridiculously cheesy, I ended up skimming the book for those 40 pages. And not to mention that it was made even worse by her first romance in the beginning of the book that was instantly forgotten when she ran into this dream boat.

Beyond the bad romance, and the lacking MC, there were some interesting aspects to this book. I liked the new take on The Princess and the Pea, along with the recognition of a little known disease. I also enjoyed towards the end of the book when Penelope gets a bit more grown up, a bit more serious, and takes her life into her own hands instead of just whining about everything.

Even though there were some redeeming qualities to this book, I did not enjoy it enough to continue the series.